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This story is dedicated to my 
children, in whom it is my strong 
desire to awaken and develop a 
love for local history. 



PREFACE 

THE story of Washington's visits to Western 
Pennsylvania was briefly retold by the author 
before a meeting of the Pennsylvania Society of 
Sons of the American Revolution held in Pitts- 
burgh in the spring of 1916; and by an action of 
the Board of Managers of that organization it 
was, in its present and more amplified form, 
ordered to be pubhshed for circulation among 
its members. A few extra copies have been 
printed for general circulation and private dis- 
tribution. 

T. D. 
Pittsburgh, July 1916. 



I 




THE FIRST PORTRAIT OF WASHINGTON 



Painted by Charles Willson Peale 

at Mount Vernon, May 1772, 

From the Original in the Historical Society of Pennsylvania 

Presented by Charles L. Ogden 

February 22nd, 1892. 



THE PLACE OF WASHINGTON IN THE HISTORY OF 
WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

By THEODORE DILLER 
PITTSBURGH 



t: d/Z 

.Z 
.ID 6' 7 



INTRODUCTION 



Washington made six visits to Western Pennsylvania: in 1753- 
1754-1755-1758-1770 and 1784; and on three of them he spent some 
time on the site of the City of Pittsburgh, viz.: in 1753, 1758, and 
1770. 

His first pubHc service was his trip to Western Pennsylvania 
in 1753 as bearer of a letter from Governor Dinwiddle to Legardeur 
de la St. Pierre, the F"rench commandant, at Venango. This and 
three subsequent visits to Western Pennsylvania — 1754, 1755, 1758 — 
all had to do with the matter of the contest between the English 
and French for the possession of the Ohio Valley. 

To my mind, the most interesting of all Washington's visits, 
and the one which appeals to the imagination most, is his first visit, 
in 1753, when he carried Governor Dinwiddle's letter to the French 
commandant, warning the French out of the country of the Ohio 
Valley. At this time Washington was a youth of 21, inured to the 
life of the forest by four years' service as surveyor and adjutant- 
general of the Virginia Militia, which did much to fit him for the 
undertaking. 

Before attempting to describe this journey, let us look at the 
course of events which had given rise to Governor Dinwiddle's 
demand, through his messenger, Washington, that the French 
should leave the country of the Ohio Valley. 




Map Showing the Territory Claimed by France and by Spain 
(about 1750 A. D.). 

9 



THE FRENCH AND ENGLISH CLAIMS 
TO THE OHIO VALLEY 

The French and English both claimed all the land watered by 
the Ohio river. The former based their claims chiefly on the 
discoveries of the early French explorers, — Marquette, La Salle, and 
Hennapin; while the latter based their claim upon the discoveries 
of the Cabols on the Atlantic coast and upon Royal grants which 
had been received by the various colonies extending westward to 
the Pacific Ocean. 

The French settlements and forts were chiefly in two places — 
about the mouth of the St. Lawrence River and about the mouth of 
the Mississippi. These two points of colonization were feebly con- 
nected together, although the French had begun to visit the head- 
waters of the Ohio as early as 1739. Detroit was founded in 1700; 
a great military road was constructed from that point to the Ohio 
river in 1739. A French trading post had been built at the head 
of Lake Erie on the Maumee as early as 1G90. The French had 
established sojne trading posts on the Ohio as early as 1730, as 
attested by the six nations at a conference held in Philadelphia, 
which terminated the war between Great Britain and France, but 
left the matter of the boundary between these two colonies unde- 
termined. 

In 1748 the Ohio Land Company was given a Royal Charter by 
the King of England and received a grant of 500,000 acres of land 
between the Monongahela and the Great Kanawha, lying chiefly 
on the south side of the river. The charter required that 100 
families should be settled on this land within seven years; and the 
company was required to build and maintain a garrison sufficient 
to protect the settlers. Among the prominent men of the company 
were Mr. Thos. Lee, Mr. Thos. Hanbury, London agent, Lawrence 
and Augustus Washington, and ten other Virginians. Preparations 
were made to survey and colonize this land; and a cargo of goods 
for the use of the settlers and for traffic with the Indians was pur- 
chased in London to arrive the next year, 1749. The company had 
previously sent out into the Ohio country the well-known Indian 
interpreter, Conrad Weiser, to visit the Indians and to obtain their 
consent for settlers to take up their abode here. 

At this time the English colonies contained between 1,000,000 
and 1,250,000 inhabitants, while the French population numbered 
scarcely more than 80,000 all told. However, the French were 
strongly supported by the Royal government at home, while the 
English were divided into several colonies which were incapable 

10 



of concerted action. Besides, the French took to the forests of 
America naturally and to which many had been long habituated. 

The French were fully alive to the significance of the intended 
operation of the Ohio Land Company which, if it succeeded, would 
mean that their settlements on the St. Lawrence and those at the 
mouth of the Mississippi would be severed of connection and their 
position thus be greatly weakened. They were quick to realize 
they must prevent the English from carrying out their plans to 
settle the Ohio Valley, as designed by the Ohio Land Company, and 
that to do this they must themselves drive out existing English 
traders and prevent permanent occupation by English settlers; and 
they must themselves hold the country by strengthening their 
fortifications which they possessed in it and by building new ones. 

Accordingly, in the summer of 1749, Marquis de la Galissoniere, 
Governor-General of Canada, sent Celoron de Bienville on a voyage 
through the Ohio country for the purpose of warning out the 
English settlers and making friends of the Indians in anticipation 
of future trouble. Ccloron's party consisted of 14 officers, includ- 
ing Contracour and de Villicrs, 29. soldiers, 180 Canadians, a band 
of Indians and 25 birch bark canoes. In the middle of July, 1749, 
Celoron reached Lake Chautauqua; and after a fatiguing journey 
the La Belle Riviere (French River) was entered on the 29th of 
July. Now Celoron drew up his men in order and proclaimed Louis 
XV lord of the region; the arms of France on a tin sheet were 
nailed to a tree and a leaden plate which bears the following 
inscrii)tion, was buried at the foot of it: 

"Year, 1749, in the reign of Louis Fifteenth, King of France, 
we, Celoron, commanding the detachment sent by the Marquis de 
la Galissoniere, commander-general of New France, to restore 
tranquility in certain villages of these cantons, have buried this 
plate at the confluence of the Ohio and the Kanaougon (Cone- 
wango) this 29th of July as a token of renewal of possession here- 
tofore taken of the aforesaid River Ohio, all streams that fall into 
it and all lands on both sides to the source of the aforesaid streams, 
as the preceding Kings of France have enjoyed or ought to have 
enjoyed it, and which they have upheld by force of arms and by 
treaties, notably by those of Ryswick and Utrecht and Aix-la- 
Chapelle." "^ 

The party proceeded down the La Belle Riviere, which was 
the French name for the Ohio and its tributary, the Allegheny, 
Joncaire, son of a French father and Indian mother, and who spoke 
several Indian dialects besides French, was appointed advance 
guard of the expedition charged with the duty of going forward 
and appeasing the Indians and preventing them from fleeing at the 
approach of the party. Four leagues below French Creek, by a 
rock scratched with Indian hieroglyphics, they buried another 
plate. Three days later they reached the Delaware village, Attique, 

11 



: J*:: .A A,\: ■■■,'-'.!: ■.■■ i!f : 



■ Tr"~;t " 1^ i" A " -A— » A ^^— -i, « TT 



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P«l II REVCO(»CNO flB BONItaMPS JtSUlTTt UlTMCU 



Map of a Voyage made on the Beautiful River, in New France, 1749. 
By Rev. Father Bonnecamps, Jesuit Mathematician. 



12 



EXPLANATION OF FATHER BONNECAMPS' MAP 

The map prefixed is a reduced copy of a part of Father Bonne- 
camps' manuscript map of the route of de Celoron's Expedition, 
now deposited in the Archives of the Department de la Marine in 
Paris. 

II Indicates tlie phices where leaden plates were buried. 

t Points where latitudes and longitudes were observed. 

* Sites of Indian villages. 

The degrees of longitude are west of the meridian of Paris, 
and are indicated by the figures in the outer division of the scales 
on eastern and western extremities of the map. Those on the inner 
divisions are leagues, in the proportion of twenty to a degree. 

FRENCH NAMES 



Portage de la Demoiselle, 
Lac Tjadikoin, 
La Paille Coupee, 
Village de Loups, 

R. aux Boeufs, 

R. au Fiel, 

R. au Vermillion. 

R. Kanououara, 

R. de Sinhiota, 

Baril. 

R. Blanche, 

R. de la Roche, 

La Demoiselle, 

Portage de la Demoiselle aux 

Miamis, 
Fort des Miamis, 
Isles aux Serpentes, 
R. aux Cignes, 
R. aux Cedres, 
Pointe Pellee, 
Pointe aux Pins, 



Apple River. 

Lake Chautauqua. 

Broken Straw. 

Village of Loup Indians, called 

by the English, Munceys. 
French Creek. 
Gall River. 
Vermillion River. 
Wheeling Creek. 
Scioto River. 
Barrel. 
White River. 
Rock River. 
Maiden. 
Portage from Maiden to 

Miami. 
Fort Miami. 
Serpent Isles. 
Swan River. 
Cedar River. 
Shovel Point. 
Pine Point. 



Toute Cette Partie Du Lac C Est Inconue. 

All this part of the Lake is unknown. 

Longitude Occidentale, West Longitude. 

13 



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(Fac Simile of the Leaden Plate buried at the Indian God 

Rock, on the Allegheny River, nine miles below 

Frankhn, Pa., August 3, 1749.) 

TRANSLATION 

"In the year 1749, of the reign of Louis tlie Fifteentli, King of 
France, we, Celoron, commander of a detachment sent by Mon- 
sieur tlie Marquis de la Galissoniere, Governor General of New 
France, to re-establish tranquility in some Indian villages of these 
cantons, have buried this plate of lead at the confluence of the 
Ohio and the Chautauqua, this 29th day of July, near the River 
Ohio, otherwise Belle Riviere, as a monument of the renewal of 
the possession we have taken of the said River Ohio, and of all 
those which empty into it, and of all the lands on both sides as far 
as the sources of the said rivers, as enjoyed or ought to have been 
enjoyed by the Kings of France preceding, as they have there main- 
tained themselves by arms and by treaties, especially those of Rys- 
wick, Utrecht, and Aix-la-Chapelle." 

On the 29th of January, 1751, Governor Clinton sent a copy of 
the above inscription to Governor Hamilton, of Pennsylvania, in- 
forming him that it was "taken from a plate stolen from Joncaire 
some months since in the Seneca country as he was going to the 
River Ohio." 



15 



;if the site of Kittaniiing. Mere was rounci twenty-two Indian w'ig- 
wams, all empty, the Indians having tied. A little farther along 
they found six English traders who were warned out of the coun- 
try. Celoron charged them with a letter to the Governor of Penn- 
sylvania in which he declared he was greatly surprised to find Eng- 
lishmen trespassing on the domain of the King of France. The next 
day they reached the Irotjuois village, ruled by Queen Alliquippa, 
who was lojal to the English. She and her subjects had tied, but 
(k'loron found six white men — English — whom he ordered out of 
the country. The party passed the site of the future Pittsburgh, 
and some seventeen miles below approached Chinique, on the Ohio 
River, called Logstown by the English. At Wheeling Creek, and at 
the mouth of the Muskingum, and at the mouth of the Great 
Kanawha, leaden plates were buried. On the 20th of August the 
part> reached the Great Miamee, where Celoron buried the last 
of the leaden plates and then proceeded to ascend this river. They 
reached the village ruled over by a wily Indian, to whom the 
French gave the curious name of La Damoselle. The English 
traders had prudently withdrawn from this village. Celoron en- 
deavored to persuade this tribe to remove to one of the French 
forts, but in vain. Early in October the expedition reached Lake 
Erie, where it was detained for a time by a drunken debauch of 
the Indians. A month later the party had reached Fort Frontenac; 
Father Bonnecamps, chaplain of the expedition, estimated they had 
traveled 1200 leagues. While Celoron had warned out many parties 
of English traders, and done his best to make friends with the 
Indians, he, himself, seemed very doubtful as to the success of his 
expedition. 

A year after this voyage of Celoron, the Ohio Company sent out 
Christopher Gist, an experienced woodsman, who had settled in 
North Carolina and who probably understood several Indian dia- 
lects, to explore the Ohio country and select land which must be 
"good level land"; for the company "had rather go quite down 
to the Mississippi than to take mean broken land." Gist was a man 
of education, having studied for the priesthood of the Church of 
England. In November, 1750, Gist reached Logstown, where he 
found "a parcel of reprobate Indian traders," chiefly Pennsyl- 
vanians and Scotch Irish. At the Wyandot village, on the Mus- 
kingum, Gist fell in with George Croghan, a trader, sent to the 
Indians by the Governor of Pennsylvania to renew the chain of 
friendship. 

Gist and Croghan now traveled together through this west 
country, going over much of the same ground that had been cov- 
ered by Celoron the jjrevious year. At various points they deliv- 
ered addresses to the Indians and endeavoring to counteract any 
influence that Celoron may have had over them. 

In the meantime, the Ohio Company had built a trading house 

16 



at Wills Creek at the site of Cumberland. Here the Indians re- 
sorted in great numbers. 

The governors of New York, Pennsylvania, and Virginia, 
whose interests were almost identical as regards the Indians, could 
not co-operate. The Assembly of New York refused the request 
of the governor to assist Pennsylvania in securing the fidelity of 
the Indians on the Ohio. All the other states turned deaf ears, 
except Massachusetts, Connecticut, and South Carolina, who sent 
conmiissioners. 

On June 9th, 1752, Messrs. Fry, Lomax, and Patton were dis- 
patched by the colonists to meet the Indians at Logstown to deter- 
mine on the ownership of certain lands in the Ohio country. Gist 
attended this council as agent of the Ohio Company, and he pro- 
duced the treaty of Lancaster, made in 1744, to sustain the claim 
of the English to this land. 

At the date of these negotiations the Ohio country was occu- 
pied by various tribes of Indians, chiefly Delawares and Shaw- 
nees. Their king, Shingiss, was found by Washington in 1753, 
located at the mouth of Chartiers Creek. The Delawares also had 
a village, called Shanopin town, on the left or south bank of the 
Allegheny, two miles above the fort. The Senecas of the six na- 
tions were also dwelling on both sides of the Ohio and Allegheny. 
These various tribes of Indians seem to have been living peaceably 
together when first the French and then the English made endeavors 
to exploit them. It appears that Gist recommended to the Ohio Com- 
pany the mouth of Chartiers Creek as a good place for a settlement; 
and that in 1752 he actually set out to lay out a town and fort there. 

Soon after Logstown's trl?aty, in 1753, Gist, thinking the In- 
dians were permanently pacified, abandoned his settlement in 
North Carolina and made a new home in Pennsylvania on the 
route of travel adopted by the Ohio Company, a few miles west of 
Laurel Ridge, near the present site of Uniontown. He brought 
eleven other families to this new settlement. 

In the spring of 1753 the French, in pursuance of their policy, 
ci'ossed Lake Erie and erected a fort at Presque Isle, now Erie; 
and a little later another one at La Boeuf, now W^aterford, and 
still another at the mouth of French River, called Venango, now 
Franklin. Probably another would have been erected also lower 
down the river, perhaps at the forks of the Ohio, had not the Ohio 
Land Company anticipated them. 

At this time Marquis de Duquesne de Memmeville, Governor 
of Canada, having succeeded Marquis de la Galisonniere, who died 
at Quebec in 1752, pursued a vigorous policy in the erection of 
French forts in the Ohio country. 

Thus we begin the year of 1753 with the French and English 
facing eath other at the headwaters of the Ohio River, with a 
conflict evidently impending. Robert Dinwiddie, a native of Scot- 

Vi 




ix J THE 

#^^ FRENCH & ENGLISH 

IN THE 

^ /\| OHIO VALLEY 

j.-^f ^^,: i~ 1750-1763 

'"^X? A|\ 'i.^'^" V i^ ; $-'^^v-\j "■»' ,,^~' ' iS^ 



land, the Governor of Virginia, reconiniended to the Board of Trade 
in England that a series of fortifications be constructed in the west. 



18 



II. 

WASHINGTON'S FIRST TRIP TO WESTERN 
PENNSYLVANIA 

Octobei' 30th, 1753, Governor Dinwiddie commissioned George 
Washington to proceed to the "place on the Ohio River, where 
the French have lately erected a fort or forts, or where the com- 
mandant of the French forces resides, in order to deliver a letter 
or message to him, and after waiting not exceeding one week, you 
are to take your leave and return immediately back." In his in- 
structions to Washington, Governor Dinwiddie directs him to 
address himself to the Half King at Logstown and other sachems 
of the six nations, and to ask the chief to appoint a sufficient num- 
ber of warriors to safeguard him; and he further directed him to 
be "diligent to inquire into the number and forces of the French 
on the Ohio and in the West," and he further instructed him to 
"take great care to be truly informed what forts the French have 
erected and where; how they are garrisoned; and what is the dis- 
tance from each other and from Logstown." 

Washington received this commission on October 30th, 1753, 
and started on his journey the very next day. In his trip to the 
French fort he followed the route of the Ohio company. This 
was well known by the name of Nemacolin's Pass and had been 
made by Thomas Cresip, with the assistance and guidance of an 
Indian named Nemacolin. The route was known to the Indians 
many years before and probably was used by them as early as 1740. 
This route led from the mouth of Wills Creek to the forks of the 
Ohio. The Ohio company marked this route first in 1750 by cutting 
away trees and underbrush and removing dead timber. In 1753 the 
road had been enlarged and improved at considerable expense. 
Washington took this route in his trip west in 1753, and again the 
next year, in 1754. Braddock followed it in 1755 and completed 
it as far as Turtle Creek, within ten miles of Fort Duquesne; and 
since this expedition it has been known as Braddock's Road. So 
you must not think, as I did mistakenly, that in setting out Wash- 
ington traveled through a trackless forest, for such was not the 
case; he traveled along a well known and well established, if rather 
primitive, forest path. 

As has been stated, Washington set out on his trip on the 31st 
of October, 1753. The next day he arrived at Fredericksburg and 
here engaged his Dutch fencing master, Jacob Vanbraam, to act 
as his French interpreter. Thence he went to Winchester for 
horses, baggage, etc.; and thence to Will's Creek, where he arrived 
on the 14th of November. The party was now made up of Wash- 
ington, Vanbraam, French interpreter; Davidson, Indian inter- 

19 



preler; (Christopher Gist, guide, and four men servants, and supi)lied 
with horses and camp equipments. 

By far the best account of Washington's trip to Venango and 
his authority for making the trip are contained in his own journal 
of the trip, from which I freely quote: 

WASHINGTON'S JOURNAL 

"I was commissioned and appointed by the Honorable Robert 
Dinwiddie, Mscj., Governor of Virginia, to visit and deliver a letter 
to the connnandant of the French forces on the Ohio, and set out 
on the intended journey the same day. The next day I arrived at 
P'redericksburg and engaged Mr. Jacob Vanbraam to be my French 
interpreter, and proceeded with him to Alexandria, where we pro- 
vided necessaries. From thence, we went to Winchester and got 
baggage, horses, etc.; and from thence we pursued the new road 
to Will's Creek, where we arrived on the fourteenth of November. 

"The excessive rains and vast quantities of snow which had 
fallen, prevented our reaching Mr. Fraser's, an Indian trader, at the 
mouth of Turtle Creek on the Monongahela River until Thursday 
the twenty-second. * * ♦ * 

"The waters were quite impassable without swinnning our 
horses, which obliged us to get the loan of a canoe, and to send 
Barnaby Currin and Henry Steward* down the Monongahela with 
our baggage, to meet us at the forks of the Ohio, about ten miles, 
there to cross the Allegheny. 

"As I got down before the canoe, I spent some time in viewing 
the rivers and the land in the fork, which I think extremely well 
suited for a fort, as it has absolute conmiand of both rivers. The 
land at the point is twenty or twenty-five feet above the common 
surface of the waters, and considerable bottom of flat, well- 
timbered land around it, very convenient for building. The rivers 
are each a quarter of a mile or more across, and run here very 
nearly at right angles, Allegheny bearing northeast and the Mon- 
ongahela southeast. The former of these two is a very rapid and 
swaft -running water; the other, deep and still without any per- 
ceptible fall. 

"About two miles from this, on the southeast side of the river, 
at the place where the Ohio Company intended to erect a fort, lives 
Shingiss, King of the Delawares. We called upon him to invite him 
to council at Logstown. 

"As I had taken a good deal of notice yesterday of the situation 
at the fork, my curiosity led me to examine this more particularly; 
and I think it greatly inferior, either for defense or advantages — 



* Theso persons were two of the fonr liired "sm-vitors." B;irii;il>.v Currin 
wii.s ;in Indian trader. 

20 



especially the latter. For a fort at the fork would be equally well 
situated on the Ohio and have the entire command of the Monon- 
gahela, which runs up to our settlement, and is extremely well 
designed for water carriage, as it is of deep, still nature. Besides, 
a fort at the fork* might be built at much less expense than at the 
the other places. * * * * 

"Shingiss attended us to Logstown, where we arrived between 
sun-setting and dark, the twenty-fifth day after I left Williams- 
burg. * * * * 

"As soon as I came into town, 1 went to Monacatoocha (as the 
Half King was out at his hunting cabin on Little Beaver Creek, 
about fifteen miles off), and informed him, by John Davidson, my 
Indian interpreter, that 1 was sent as a messenger to the French 
general, and was ordered to call upon the sachems of the six 
nations, to acquaint them of it. 1 gave him a string of wampum and 
a twist of tobacco, and desired him to send for the Half King 
(which he promised to do, by a runner, in the morning) and for 
other sachems. 1 invited him and the other great men present 
to my tent, where they stayed about an hour and returned. * ♦ * * 

"November 25th. — Came to town four of ten Frenchmen, who 
had deserted from a company at the Kuskuskas, which lies at the 
mouth of this river. * * * * 

"I inquired into the situation of the French of the Mississippi, 
their number, and what forts they had built. They informed me 
that there were four small forts between New Orleans and the 
Black Islands, garrisoned with about thirty or forty men, and a 
few small pieces in each; that at New Orleans, which is near the 
mouth of the Mississippi, there are thirty-five companies of forty 
men each, with a pretty strong fort mounting eight carriage guns; 
and at the Black Islands there are several companies and a fort 
with six guns. 

"The Black Islands are about a hundred and thirty leagues 
above the mouth of the Ohio, which is about three hundred and 
fifty above New Orleans. They also acquainted me that there was 
a small palisaded fort on the Ohio at the mouth of the Obaish, 
about six leagues from the Mississisppi. The Obaish heads near 
the west end of Lake Erie, and affords the communication between 
the French on the Mississippi and those on the lakes. The desert- 
ers came up from the lower Shanopin town with one Brown, an 
Indian trader, and were going to Philadelphia. 

"About three o'clock this afternoon the Half King came to 
town. * * * ♦ jjg tQifj jj^g jjg ^rjs received in a very stern 
manner by the late (French) commander. 

"26th. — We met in council at the long house about nine o'clock, 
where I spoke to them as follows: 



The spot here designated Is the site of Pittsburgh. Pa. 

21 



"Brothers: — I have called you together in council hy order of 
your brother, the Governor of Virginia, to acquaint you that I 
am sent with all possible dispatch, to visit and deliver a letter to 
the French commandant, of very great importance to your broth- 
ers, the linglish, and I dare say to you, their friends and allies. 

" 'I, was desired, brothers, by your brother, the governor, to 
call upon you, the sachems of the nations, to inform you of it, and 
to ask your advice and assistance to proceed the nearest and best 
road to the French. You see, brothers, I have gotten thus far on 
my journey. 

" 'His Honor likewise desired me to apply to you for some of 
your young men to conduct and provide provisions for us on our 
way, and be a safe-guard against those French Indians, who have 
taken up the hatchet against us. I have spoken thus, particularly 
to you, brothers, because His Honor, our Governor, treats you as 
good friends and allies, and holds you in great esteem. To confirm 
what I have said, I give you this string of wampum.' 

"After they had considered for sometime on the above dis- 
course, the Half King got up and spoke: 

" 'Now, my brother, in regard to what my brother, the gov- 
ernor, had desired of me, I return to you this answer: 

" 'I rely upon you as a brother ought to do, as you say we are 
brothers and one people. We shall put heart in hand and speak to 
our fathers, the French, concerning the speech they made to me, 
and you may depend that we will endeavor to be your guard. 

" 'Brother, as you have asked my advice, I hope you will be 
ruled by it, and stay until I can provide a company to go with you. 
The French speech-belt is not here; I have to go for it to my 
hunting cabin. Likewise, the people whom I have ordered in are 
not yet come, and cannot until the third night from this; until which 
time, brother, I must beg you to stay. 

" 'I intend to send the guard of Mingoes, Shannoahs, and Dela- 
wares, that our brothers may see the love and loyalty we bear 
them.' 

"As I had orders to make all possible dispatch, and waiting 
here was very contrary to my inclinations, I thanked him in the 
most suitable manner I could, and told him that my business re- 
quired the greatest expedition, and would not admit of that 
delay. * • * * 

"We set out about nine o'clock, with the Half King, Jeskakatke, 
^^^^ile Thunder, and the Hunter,* and traveled on the road to 
Venango, where we arrived on the fourth of December without 
anything remarkable happening but a continued series of bad 
weather. 

"This is an old Indian tow^n, situated at the mouth of French 



Craig (History of Pittsburgb), believes this Iiidiau w;is Guyasuta. 

22 



Creek, on the Allegheny, and lies near north, about sixty miles 
from Logstown, but more than seventy the way we were obliged 
to go. 

"We found the French colors hoisted at a house from which 
they had driven Mr. John Frazier, an English subject. I imme- 
diately repaired to it to know where the commander resided. 
There were three officers — one of them, Captain Joncaire, informed 
me that he had the command of the Ohio, but there was a general 
officer at the near fort, where he advised me to apply for an an- 
swer. He invited us to sup with them, and treated us with greatest 
complaisance. 

"The wine, as they dosed themselves pretty plentifully with it, 
soon banished the restraint which at first appeared in their con- 
versation, and gave a license to their tongues to reveal their 
sentiments more freely. 

"They told me, that it was their absolute design to take pos- 
session of the Ohio, and by G — d they would do it; for, that 
although they were sensible the English could raise two men for 
their one, they kenw their motions were too slow and dilatory to 
prevent any undertaking of theirs. 

"They pretend to have an undoubted right to the river by one 
La Salle sixty years ago; and the rise of this expedition is to pre- 
vent our settling on the river or waters of it, as they heard of some 
families moving out in order thereto. 

"From the best intelligence I could get, there have been fifteen 
hundred men on this side of the Ontario Lake. But upon the death 
of the general, all were recalled, to about six or seven hundred, 
who were left to garrison four forts, one hundred and fifty or 
thereabouts in each. The first of them is on French Creek, near a 
small lake, about sixty miles from Venango, near north-northwest; 
the next lies on Lake Erie, where the greater part of their stores 
is kept. From this, it is one hundred and twenty miles to the carry- 
ing place at the falls of Lake Erie, where there is a small fort at 
which they lodge their goods from which all their stores are 
brought. 

"The next fort lies about twenty miles from this, on Ontario 
Lake. Between this fort and Montreal there are three others, the 
first of which is nearly opposite to the English fort, Oswego. From 
the fort on Lake Erie to Montreal is about six hundred miles, which 
they say requires no more (if good weather) than four weeks' 
voyage, if they go in barks or large vessels so that they may cross 
the lakes; but if they come in canoes, it will require five or six 
weeks, for they are obliged to keep under the shore. * * * * 

"December 7th. — Monsieur La Force, commissary of French 
stores, and three other soldiers, came over to accompany us up. We 
found it extremely difficult to get the Indians off to-day, as every 
stratagem had been used to prevent their going up with us. * * * * 

23 



"At twelve o'clock we set out for the fort, and were prevented 
arriving there until the eleventh by excessive rains, snows, and 
bad traveling through many mires and swamps. * * * * 

"12th. — I prepared early to wait upon the commander and was 
received and conducted to him by the second officer in command. 
I acciuainled him with my business, and offered my commission and 
letters, both of which he desired me to keep until the arrival of 
Monsieur Re])arti, captain at the next fort, who was sent for and 
expected every hour. 

"This commander is a knight of the military order of St. 
Louis, and named Legardeur de St. Pierre. He is an elderly gentle- 
man, and has much the air of a soldier. He was sent over to take 
connnand innnedialely upon the death of the late general, and 
arrived here about seven days before me. 

"At two o'clock, the gentleman who was sent for, arrived, when 
I offered the letter, etc., again, which they received, and adjourned 
into a private apartment for the captain to translate, who under- 
stood a little English. After he had done it, the commander desired 
I would walk in, and bring my interpreter, to peruse and correct 
it, which I did. 

"13th. — The chief officers retired to hold a council of war, 
which gave me an opportunity of taking the dimensions of the fort 
and making what observations I could. 

"It is situated on the south or west fork of French Creek, near 
the water, and is almost surrounded by the creek and a small 
branch of it, which forms a kind of an island. Four houses com- 
pose the sides. The bastions are made of piles driven in the 
ground, standing more than twelve feet above it, and sharp at top, 
with portholes cut for cannon, and loopholes for the small arms 
to fire through. There are eight six-pound pieces mounted in each 
bastion, and one piece of four pounds before the gate. In the bas- 
tions are a guard-house, chapel, doctor's lodging and the command- 
er's private store, round which are laid platforms for the cannon 
and men to stand on. There are several barracks without the fort 
for the soldiers' dwellings, covered some with bark and some with 
boards, made of logs. There are also several other houses, such as 
stables, smith's shops, etc. 

"I could get no certain account of the number of men here, 
but according to the best judgment I could form, there are a hun- 
dred, exclusive of officers, of whom there are many. 

"14th. — As the snow increased very fast, and our horses daily 
became weaker, I sent them off unloaded * * * * intending 
myself to go down by w^ater. 

"I was in(iuiring of the commander, by what authority he had 
made prisoners of several of our English subjects; he told mc that 
the country belonged to them, that no Englishman had a right to 
trade upon those waters, and that he had orders to make every 

24 



person prisoner, who attempted it on the Oliio or the waters of 
it. * * * * 

"This evening I received an answer to His Honor, the gov- 
ernor's letter, from the commandant. 

"15th. — The commandant ordered a plentiful store of liquor 
and provisions to be put on board our canoes, and appeared to be 
extremely complaisant, though he was exerting every artifice that 
he could invent to set our Indians at variance with us, and prevent 
their going until after our departure, by presents, rewards, and 
everything that could be suggested by him or his officers. 

"I cannot say that ever in my life I suffered so much anxiety 
as I did in this affair. I saw that every stratagem which the most 
fruitful brain could invent was practiced to win Half King to 
their interest. * * * * 

"16th. — We had a tedious and very fatiguing passage down the 
creek; several times we had like to have been staved against rocks, 
and many times were obliged, all hands, to get out and remain in 
the water half an hour or more, getting over the shoals. At one 
place the ice had lodged, and made it impassable by water. We 
were, therefore, obliged to carry our canoes across the neck of 
land, a quarter of a mile over. We did not reach Venango until the 
twenty-second, where we met with our horses. ♦ ♦ * ♦ 

"23rd. — Our horses were now so weak and feeble and the 
baggage so heavy (as we were obliged to provide all necessaries 
which the journey would require), that we doubted much their 
performing it. Therefore, myself and others, except the drivers, 
who were obliged to ride, gave up our horses for packs to assist 
along with the baggage. 

"I put myself in an Indian walking dress, and continued with 
them three days, until I found there was no probability of their 
getting home in any reasonable time. The horses became less able 
to travel every day; the cold increasing very fast, and the I'oads 
were becoming much worse by a deep snow, continually freezing; 
therefore, as I was uneasy to get back to make report of my pro- 
ceedings to His Honor, the Governor, I determined to prosecute my 
journey the nearest way through the woods on foot. 

"Accordingly, I left Mr. Vanbraam in charge of our baggage, 
with money and directions to provide necessaries, from place to 
place, for themselves and horses, and made the most convenient 
dispatch in traveling. 

"I took my necessary papers, pulled off my clothes, and tied 
myself up in a matchcoat. Then, with gun in hand and pack on 
my back, in which were my papers and provisions, I set out with 
Mr. Gist, fitted in the same manner, Wednesday the twenty-sixth. 

"The day following, just after we had passed a place called 
Murdering Town (where we intended to quit the path and steer 
across the country for Shanopin's Town) we fell in w'ith a party 

25 



of French Indians, who had lain in wait for us. One of them fired 
at Mr. Gist or me, not fifteen steps off, but fortunately missed. We 
took this fellow into custody, and kept him until about nine 
o'clock at night, then let him go, and walked all the remaining part 
of the night without making any stop, that we might get the start 
of their pursuit the next day, since we were well assured they 
would follow our track as soon as it was light. 

"The next day we continued traveling until quite dark and 
got to the river, about two miles above Shanopin's. We expected 
to find the river frozen, but it was not, only about fifty feet from 
each shore. The ice, I suppose, had broken up above, for it was 
driving in vast quantities. 

"There was no way for getting over but on a raft, which we 
set about with one hatchet, and finished just after sun setting. This 
was a whole day's work; we next got it launched, then went on 
board of it and set off, but before we were halfway over, we were 
jammed in the ice in such a manner that we expected every moment 
our raft to sink, and ourselves to perish. I put out my setting-pole 
to try to stop the raft, that the ice might pass by, when the rapidity 
of the stream threw it with so much violence against the pole that 
it jerked me out into ten feet of water, but fortunately saved myself 
by catching hold of the raft-logs. Notwithstanding all our efforts, 
we could not get to the other shore, but were obliged, as we were 
near an island, to quit our raft and make for it. 

"The cold was so extremely severe that Mr. Gist had all his 
fingers and some of his toes frozen, and the water was shut up so 
hard that we found no difficulty in getting off the island on the ice 
in the morning, and went to Mr. Frazer's. We met here with 
twenty warriors, who were going to the southward to war, but 
coming to a place on the head of the Great Kanawha, where they 
found seven people killed and scalped (all but one woman with 
very light hair), they turned about and ran back for fear the 
inhabitants should rise and take them as the authors of the murder. 
They report that the bodies were lying about the house and some 
of them much torn and eaten by hogs. By the marks which were 
left, they say they were French Indians, of the Ottaway nation, who 
did it. 

"As we intended to take horses here, and it required some 
time to find them, I went up about three miles to the mouth of 
the Youghiogheny to visit Queen Alliquippa, who had expressed 
great concern that we passed her in going to the fort. I made her 
a present of a matchcoat and a bottle of rum, which latter was 
thought much the better present of the two. 

"Tuesda\, the 1st of January, we left Mr. Frazer's house, and 
arrived at Mr. Gist's, at Monongahela, the 2nd, where I bought a 
horse and saddle. The Gth, we met seventeen horses loaded with 
materials and stores for a fort at the fork of the Ohio; and the day 

26 



after, some families going out to settle. This day we arrived at 
Will's Creek, after as fatiguing a journey as it is possible to con- 
ceive, rendered so by excessive bad weather, 

"From the first day of December to the fifteenth, there was but 
one day on which it did not rain or snow incessantly; and through- 
out the whole journey we met with nothing but one continued 
series of cold, wet weather, which occasioned very uncomfortable 
lodgings, especially after we had quitted out tent, which was some 
screen from the inclemency of it. 

"On the 11th I got to Belvoir, where I stopped one day to take 
necessary rest and then set out and arrived in Williamsburg the 
6th, when I waited upon His Honor, the Governor, with the letter 
I had brought from the French and to give an account of the 
success of my proceedings." 

GIST'S JOURNAL 

Captain Gist also kept a journal of this expedition.* Some 
passages of it aff"ord an interesting commentary on what Washing- 
ton has more briefly recorded: 

"Wednesday, 26th. — The major desired me to set out on foot 
and leave our conipany, as the creeks were frozen and our horses 
could make but little way. Indeed, I was unwilling he should un- 
dertake such travel, who had never been used to walking before 
this time. But as he was set on it, we set out with our packs, like 
Indians, and traveled eighteen miles. That night we lodged at an 
Indian cabin, and the major was much fatigued. It was very cold. 
All the small runs were frozen, so that we could hardly get water 
to drink. 

"Thursday, 27th. — We rose early in the morning, and set out 
about two o'clock. Got to Murdering Town, on the southeast fork 
of Beaver Creek. Here we met with an Indian, whom I thought I 
had seen at Joncaire's, at Venango, when on our journey up to 
the French fort. This fellow called me by my Indian name and 
pretended to be glad to see me. He asked us several questions, as 
how we came to travel on foot, when we left Venango, where we 
parted with our horses, and when they would be there. Major 
Washington insisted on traveling the nearest way to the forks of 
the Allegheny. We asked the Indian if he would go with us and 
show us the nearest way. The Indian seemed very glad and ready 
to go with us. Upon which we set out and the Indian took the 
major's pack. We traveled very briskly for eight or ten miles, 
when the major's feet grew sore, and he being very weary, and the 
Indian steered too much northeastwardly. 

"The major desired to encamp, on which the Indian asked to 
carry his gun. But he refused that, and then the Indian grew 



Published by the Massachusetts Historical Society, Third Scries, Vol. V. 

27 



churlish, and pressed us to keep on, telling us that there were 
Ottawa Indians in these woods, and that they would scalp us if 
we lay out, but to go to his cabin, and we should be safe. I thought 
ill of the fellow, but did not care to let the major know I mistrusted 
him. But soon he mistrusted him as much as I. He said he could 
hear a gun in his cabin, and steered us more northwardly. We 
grew uneasy; and then he said that two whoops might be heard 
to his cabin. We went two miles further. Then the major said he 
would stay at the next water, and we desired the Indian to stop 
at the next water. But before we came to water, w^e came to a 
clear meadow. It was very light, and there was snow on the 
ground. The Indian made a stop, and turned about. The major 
saw him point his gun towards us and fire. Said the major, 'are 
you shot?' 'No,' said I. Upon this, the Indian ran forward to a big 
standing white oak, and went to loading his gun; but we were too 
soon with him. I would have killed him but the major would not 
suffer me to kill him. 

"We let him charge his gun. We found he put in a ball. Then 
we took care of him. The major or I always stood by the guns. 
We made the Indian make a fire for us by a little run, as if we 
intended to sleep there. I said to the major, 'As you will not have 
him killed, we must get him away, and then we can travel all 
night.' Upon this I said to the Indian, 'I suppose you were lost, 
and fired your gun.' He said he knew the way to his cabin and that 
it was but a little way. 'Well,' said I, 'do you go home; and as we 
are tired, we will follow your tracks in the morning; here is a cake 
of bread for you and you must give us meat in the morning.' He 
was glad to get away. I followed him and listened until he was 
fairly out of the way. Then we set out about half a mile, where 
we made a fire, set our compass, and fixed our course, and traveled 
all night. In the morning w^e were at the head of Piney Creek. 

"Friday, 28th. — We traveled all the next day down said creek 
and just at night we found some tracks where Indians had been 
hunting. We parted and appointed a place, a distance off, where 
to meet, it being then dark. We encamped, and thought ourselves 
safe enough to sleep. 

"Saturday, 29th. — We set out early, got to Alleghany, made a 
raft, and with difficulty got over to an island a little above Shan- 
opin's Town. The major having fallen in from off the raft, and my 
fingers being frost-bitten, and the sun down, and it being very cold, 
we contented ourselves to encamp upon the island. It was deep 
water between us and the shore, but the cold did some service, for 
in the morning it was frozen hard enough for us to pass over on 
the ice." 

While Washington was carrying Governor Dinwiddle's note 
to the French commandant at Venango, the Governor himself was 
not idle. He assembled the House of Burgesses on November 1st 

28 



and laid before them the critical situation as regards the French 
occupation of the Ohio River valley. The Burgesses could not 
agree at this time to appropriate any money, although a few weeks 
later they did appropriate t'10,000 in Virginia currency for the pur- 
pose of raising troops to drive the French out of the Ohio country. 
Dinwiddle had in the meantime written urgent letters to Govern- 
ors of Pennsylvania, the Carolinas, Maryland, and New Jersey, for 
troops to meet at Will's Creek by the lirst of March. Pennsylvania's 
governor, Hamilton, could do nothing to help in the face of the 
placidity of the Quakers and the stolidity of the German farmers, 
who made up the assembly. North Carolina responded to the 
Governor's appeal and sent him 300 or 400 men. 

Early in February, 1754, Captain Trent, with a small cominuiy 
of men, was sent forward with instructions to build a fort innne- 
diately at the junction of the Ohio and Monongahela Rivers, and 
thus anticipate the French. For some reason not well known, 
Trent, after reaching the forks, returned east and left the work 
of construction in charge of Ensign Ward, with 40 men. These men 
were interrupted at their w^ork on the 17th of April, 1754, by the 
appearance of a large number of bateaux and canoes, which came 
gliding down the Allegheny River, carrying more than 500 French 
soldiers under Contrecoeur, who had succeeded in office St. Pierre. 
The French commanded Ensign Ward to desist from his work and 
surrender it to them, which he did without show of resistance. 
He was allowed to depart without injury, and he returned to Vir- 
ginia. The French themselves immediately began the erection of 
a fort, which they called after Duquesne, the Governor of Canada, 
who had succeeded Galissoniere in that office. 



29 



III. 

WASHINGTON'S SECOND JOURNEY 

A company of 300 men, which had been raised by Governor 
Dinwiddic, was placed under the command of Joshua Fry, as 
Colonel, with Washington next in command. While Col. Fry re- 
mained behind at Alexandria for supplies and more men (it was 
felt so important that something be done inunediately), Wash- 
ington, in command of the other half of the regiment numbering 
150 men, pushed forward to the store house of the Ohio company at 
Will's Creek. Both Dinwiddle and Washington seemed to regard 
the action of the French in driving Ensign Ward from the forks 
of the river when he was engaged in building a fort, as practically 
a declaration of war. From Will's Creek to Fort Duquesne was 
about 140 miles; and about midway, at the mouth of the Redstone 
Creek (now Brownsville), there was another trading post of the 
Ohio company. Dinwiddle gave direction that when the army, which 
had crossed the mountains and reached this point, and when forces 
were strong enough, they should attack the French at Fort Du- 
quesne. For this order the Governor had behind him the sanction 
of Royal authority. 

After much severe labor, Washington succeeded in cutting a 
path through the mountains sufficient to permit the passage of his 
troops and supply wagons, and finally reached a place on the 
Laurel ridge, just below Uniontown, which he called Great Mead- 
ows. Here he encamped. He had received word from Christopher 
Gist and two messengers from the Half King, apprising him that 
the French were moving against him. As a matter of fact, a small 
company of men had been sent out from the fort under the com- 
mand of Ensign Jumonville. These were discovered and surprised 
by Washington, who opened fire upon them with the result that 
Jumonville and nine of his men were killed and twenty-two cap- 
tured. Only one of the party, a young Canadian, escaped. 

Washington has been greatly censured for this attack and for 
killing Jumonville, it having been alleged that the party was sim- 
ply coming to him for the purpose of conference and not for the 
purpose of attack. But Parkman points out that the French troops 
were loitering in the neighborhood of Washington for two or three 
days, which are not the tactics of a party simply bent upon deliv- 
ering a message or entering into a parley. Parkman further 
observed that "there was every reason for believing that the de- 
signs of the French were hostile," and he commends Washington 
for his "coolness and judgment and profound sense of public duty 

30 



and strong self-control." Just now it is to be remembered that the 
future father of his country was then only 22 years of age. 

^Yashington now retired to Great Meadows, expecting another 
attack from the French, in which he was not disappointed. Ex- 
pecting re-enforcements from Col. Fry, who was at this time at 
Will's Creek dangerously ill, he hastily threw up entrenchments in 
the space of three days. The Half King and Queen Alliquippa, with 
thirty Indian families, joined the fort. A few days later, Chris- 
topher Gist brought the news that Col. Fry had died at Will's 
Creek. Washington, now commander-in-chief of the expedition, 
was rejoiced by the arrival of an independent company from 
South Carolina. Fort Necessity was an animated place, alive with 
soldiers, backwoodsmen, and Indians, surrounded by the same 
beautiful hills and mountains which we may enjoy to-day. A com- 
pany of regulars, under Captain Mackey, were of doubtful advan- 
tage; for they considered themselves as not subject to the commands 
of a provincial colonel. A party of forty Indians, who were really 
French spies, came over from Ohio and spent some days in council. 

In the spring of the year, Fort Duquesne had been strongly re- 
inforced, and now numbered something like 1,400 men. 

And now, a body of French, supported by Indians under the 
command of Coulon de Villiers, a brother of Jumonville, marched 
to Fort Necessity, arriving on the scene after a rapid march on the 
morning of June 2Gth. He found 500 French, supported by a num- 
ber of Indians, under Le Mercier, on the point of attacking Wash- 
ington, but on account of de Villier's relationship to Jumonville, 
the whole command of the expedition was given to him. Contre- 
coeur harangued the Indians to fire them with love of the French 
cause. Contrecoeur, Villiers, Le Mercier, and Longueil held a 
council of war, and it was decided to march at once against and 
attack Fort Necessity. 

The party set out and paddled their canoes up the Monongahela 
River and reached the deserted store house of the Ohio company 
on the 13th of June; and on the 2nd of July the abandoned camp of 
Gist's settlement. The next day, they passed through the gorge of 
Laurel Hill through a drenching rain. De Villiers swerved from 
the road half a mile to see the place where his brother had been 
killed. Here several bodies still lay unburied. 

Washington's men had been making ready for the expected 
attack of the French. The fort was a simple, square enclosure, and 
was surrounded by trenches. The Virginians had little provisions 
and were short of ammunition. The party of French approaching 
them was reported at 900. Washington drew up his men in front 
of F'ort Necessity, choosing for some reason to meet them in the 
open plain. De Villiers and his followers made their way through 
the forest, until they came opposite the fort, and concealed them- 
selves in two densely wooded hills, separated by a small brook. 

31 



Here the Fiench and Indians were well protected and had the 
advantage of high ground. Washington had in the meantime with- 
drawn his soldiers wilhin the entrenchments. Now the tiring began 
on both sides and continued through the day, and despite the heavy 
rainfall much of the time, which nearly quenched the tire on both 
sides. 

At eight o'clock in the evening the French proposed a truce. 
Both sides were in bad plight, being thoroughly drenched and short 
of ammunition and provisions. At iirst, Washington declined the 
invitation to parley, suspecting in it a move to introduce a spy into 
his fort; but when the oft'er was repeated and he was invited to 
send an oflicer to them, he did so, designating Ensign Peyroney and 
Captain Vanbraam. i The terms of capitulation were prepared and 
articles were signed by both sides about midnight. By the articles, 
the English were permitted to march out, beating their drums and 
to remove all their property except their heavy guns. They were 
to be protected from insult by either French or Indians. The 
prisoners taken from Jumonville were to be freed. Vanbraam and 
Robert Stobo were given into the hands of the French as hostages 
for the faithful performance of the contract. 

In the engagement, 12 Virginians were killed and 43 wounded. 
De Villiers' loss numbered 20 in all. The number of colonists en- 
gaged in the fight is not certain. There were six companies of 
Virginians, numbering 305 men and officers, and Mackey's men 
numbered 100. Parkman supposes about 350 may have taken part 
in the fight. On the side of De Villiers there were probably 700 
French, besides a number of Indians. There were no Indians on 
Washington's side, even the Half King holding himself aloof. He 
afterwards told Weiser that the French behaved like cowards and 
the English like fools. 

Early the next morning the fort was abandoned, and Wash- 
ington's retreat began. Indians had killed all the horses and cattle 
and Washington was sorely burdened with the sick and wounded. 
Much of the baggage had to be abandoned. For a time they were 
harrassed by the Indians, who subjected them to more or less in- 
dignities. Finally, the 52 miles between Fort Necessity and Weill's 
Creek was covered. 

On the other hand, De Villiers returned to Fort Duquesne 
with the exultation of a victor. He burned on his way the settle- 
ment of Gist and the store house at Redstone Creek. 

Not an English flag now waved beyond the Alleghenies. 

Washington's dilapidated forces reached Virginia in a pitiable 
plight. Governor Dinwiddle's emotions were those of anger and 
despair. He felt that had the stubborn House of Burgesses acted 
on his suggestion more i^romptly this defeat would have been 
avoided. 



32 



IV. 

WASHINGTON WITH THE BRADDOCK EXPEDITION; 
HIS THIRD JOURNEY 

And now, after a time, Governor Hamilton, of Pennsylvania, 
secured the support of his Legislature and could co-operate with 
Governor Dinwiddle. Both governors raised forces; and an appeal 
was made to England, which resulted in the dispatch of two British 
regiments under Major-General Braddock, which arrived in Hamp- 
ton, Va., the latter part of February. Franklin, who met Braddock 
and helped him to fit out the expedition for the reduction of Fort 
Duquesne, wrote this of him: 

"This general was, I think, a brave man, and might probably 
have made a good figure in some European war. But he had too 
much self-confidence, too high opinion of the validity of regular 
troops, too mean a one of both Americans and Indians." 

The two regiments under Braddock were commanded by 
Halkct and Dunbar and completed by enlistment in Virginia to 
700 men each. Braddock started out at the head of the expedition 
for Will's Creek, which he reached May 10th; here the army rested 
until the 10th of June, when it began its march for Fort Duquesne. 
Washington was made a member of Braddock's staff and accom- 
panied him on the expedition. By the 18th of June, Little Meadows 
was reached. And now fever and dysentery broke out among the 
men. Washington advised Braddock to leave the heavy baggage 
behind and push forward with his troops. This was done, Col. 
Dunbar being left behind to command the rear division, while the 
advance army consisting of 1,200 soldiers, began its march forward 
on the 19th of June, accompanied by artillery, wagons, and pack 
horses. Washington at this time was ill himself and remained in 
the rear of the forward army, and recovered only in time to take 
his place when the battle of Braddock's Field was fought. On July 
7th, the mouth of Turtle Creek, on the Monongahela, was reached. 

Fort Duciuesne lay only a few miles to the west. This fort was 
well and strongly built, as compared with others in the western 
country, and was surrounded by ravines and ditches. There were 
two water sides enclosed by strong stockades. Contrecoeur was in 
connnand, and under him were three captains — •Beaujeu, Dumad, and 
Ligneris. His forces consisted of French and Canadian soldiers 
and something like 300 Indian warriors. 

At this time the fort contained a captive in the person of a 
young Pennsylvanian, named James Smith, apparently an unusually 
bright boy of 18, who had somehow escaped being scalped, the fate 
which was meted out to his companions who were surprised by 
the Indians. Here he was brutally and savagely treated, but his life 

33 



was spared. He has given us much information as to the doings 
inside Fort Duquesne at the time of Braddock's approach. Indian 
runners had kept Contrccoeur well posted for several days in ad- 
vance as to Braddock's approach. The French, after many confer- 
ences, linally decided, persuaded hy the pleading of Captain Beau- 
jeu, to march out of the fort and meet the enemy as they crossed 
the Monongahela River, and take them by surprise. When Beaujeu 
proposed this plan to the Indians, they at first were reluctant to 
co-operate with them, but they were finally persuaded to do so 
when they saw the French were determined to march without 
them if they would not join them. Beaujeu prepared himself by 
receiving the Holy Connnunion, and then he dressed himself like a 
savage and put himself at the head of the French soldiers and the 
motley excited band of Indians. Smith estimates that probably the 
party which left the fort numbered 637 Indians, besides 3(5 French 
oflicers, 72 regular soldiers and 146 Canadians — 900 in all. 

Braddock crossed the Monongahela for the second time about 
one o'clock, expecting here to find the French. The English troops 
marched forward to music, banners waving, in a long, regular pro- 
cession. The spectacle was one which excited Washington's admir- 
ation. It seems from the best information we can find that Beaujeu 
had really intended and planned to attack the English at the ford 
of the Monongahela, but was prevented from doing so by several 
causes, chief among them the deflection of 300 Indians who did 
not rejoin him until after the English had crossed the river. Close 
to the bank of the river there w^as a little clearing and a deserted 
house which had once been occupied by the English trader. Eraser, 
and which was at once recognized by Washington, for it was here 
that he had found rest and shelter after his eventful crossing of 
the Allegheny River on his return from Fort Venango, when he 
was cold, hungry, and exhausted. The distance from Fort Duquesne 
at this point was eight miles and it was covered by a dense forest. 
Braddock did reconnotire some distance in advance, but not very 
far, and he did make considerable preparation to prevent surprise. 
In the van of the army were six Virginian light horsemen. Flank- 
ing parties were thrown out on either side and the horses and cattle 
were forced to make their way painfully through the trees. 

Gage led the advance column. Just as it passed a wide ravine 
and the main column was on the point of entering it, the guides 
and light horsemen in front suddenly fell back. A man dressed like 
an Indian, but wearing the gorget of an officer, probably Beaujeu, 
was seen running along the path. He stopped and waved his hat; 
soon it appeared that the forest was swarming with French and 
savages. The Indians responded to the signal with yells and 
opened a heavy fire from behind the trees, which was replied to by 
Gage's column, which stood with great steadiness against the In- 
dians' fire. With the first fire a number of Canadians and French 

34 



fled, calling out according to Dumas "Sauve qui peut." Volley after 
volley followed. At the third one Beaujeu fell dead. The Indians 
gave way in confusion. The English soldiers were moving for- 
ward, cheering and shouting "God save the King!" Captain Dumas, 
in connnand, believed that all was lost. He says, "I advanced with 
the assurance that comes from despair, exciting by voice and 
gesture the few soldiers that remained. The fire of my platoon 
was so sharp that the enemy seemed astonished." The encouraged 
Indians began to rally. The French ofiicers, who commanded them, 
showed great courage and fortitude. The Indians under cover, 
fired from all directions; an especially destructive fire came from 
a hill to the right of the English, where the Indians were concealed 
in large numbers. The British cheered no longer; the troops broke 
ranks and huddled in bewildered masses. Scores and scores were 
cut down by the bullets of their invisible foes. 

Braddock pushed forward to support Gage, leaving Sir Peter 
Halket in the rear to guard the baggage. Gage's troops were over- 
taken by Braddock just as they were forced back and had been 
compelled to abandon their cannon. Now they endeavored to cover 
themselves behind Braddock's troops. Great confusion resulted. 
The soldiers were now massed together, without shelter, and ex- 
posed to terrific fire. The Virginians alone were equal to the situa- 
tion, for they fought behind trees as did their adversaries, and 
might have held the enemy in check had not Braddock in furious 
anger ordered his soldiers to form in line and to advance. In the 
confusion many were killed or wounded by soldiers of their own 
side. A few of the regulars, who tried to fight behind trees, were 
beaten by Braddock with his sword and compelled to stand out in 
the open. The dead and wounded soldiers were lying on every side. 
One of Braddock's officers wrote afterwards: "I cannot describe 
the horrors of the scene. No pen could do it. The yell of the 
Indians is fresh in my ear, and the terrific sound will haunt me till 
the hour of my dissolution." Braddock himself showed the utmost 
bravery if not discretion. Mounted on horseback, he rode hither 
and thither, directing the movements. Four horses were shot 
under him and his clothing was rent by four bullets. 

The British officers behaved with courage and devotion. Sir 
Peter Halket was shot dead, and his son, as he was stooping to raise 
his body from the ground, was also shot dead. Gates and Gage, 
who afterwards opposed each other in the Revolutionary war, and 
Gladwin, who, eight years later, defended Detroit against Pontiac, 
were all wounded. Of 86 officers, 63 were killed or disabled; and 
out of 1,373 non-commissioned officers and privates, only 459 were 
uninjured. 

At last, Braddock sounded the retreat. He and his officers tried 
to restore some order. Soon thereafter, Braddock fell from his 
horse, shot through the arm and lung. He was borne to the rear by 

35 



Captain Stewart and another provincial; and the retreat was one 
of wild confusion. Captains Dumas and Ligneris did not attempt 
to pursue them, as only the French remained with them. The field 
was now abandoned to the fearful pillage and murder of the sav- 
ages. 

Young James Smith, already referred to, says: "In the after- 
noon I again observed a great noise and commotion in the fort, 
and though at that time I could not understand French, I found it 
was the voice of joy and triumph, and I feared that they had 
received what I called bad new^s. I had observed some of the old 
country soldiers speak Dutch; as I spoke Dutch, I went to one of 
them and asked him what was the news. He told me that a runner 
had just arrived who said Braddock would certainly be defeated; 
that the Indians and French had surrounded him and were con- 
cealed behind trees and gullies, and kept a constant fire upon the 
English; and that they saw the English falling in heaps, and if they 
did not take the river, which was the only gap, and make their 
escape there would not be one man left alive before sundown. 
Some time after this, I heard a number of scalp — hallos, and saw a 
company of Indians and French coming in. I observed that they 
had a great number of bloody scalps, grenadier's caps, British can- 
teens, bayonets, etc., with them. They brought the news that Brad- 
dock was defeated. After that, another company came in, which 
appeared to be about one hundred and chiefly Indians; and it 
seemed to me that almost every man of this company was carrying 
scalps. After this came another company with a number of wagon 
horses and also a great many scalps. Those that were coming and 
those that had arrived kept a constant firing of small arms, and also 
the great guns in the fort, which was accompanied with the most 
hideous shouts and yells from all quarters, so that it appeared to 
me as though the infernal regions had broken loose. 

"About sundown I beheld a small party coming in with a dozen 
prisoners, stripped naked, with their hands tied behind their 
backs and their faces and part of their bodies blacked; these pris- 
oners they burned to death on the bank of the Allegheny river, 
opposite the fort. I stood on the fort wall until I beheld them begin 
to burn one of the men; they tied him to a stake, and kept touching 
him with firebrands, red-hot irons, etc., and he screaming in the 
most doleful manner, the Indians in the meantime yelling like 
infernal spirits. As this scene appeared too shocking for me to 
behold, I retired to my lodging, both sore and sorry. When I came 
to my lodging I saw Russell's SEVEN SERMONS, which they had 
brought from the field of battle, which a Frenchman made a 
present of to me." 

The loss of the F"rench was not heavy; but it fell chiefly upon 
the officers, three of w'hom were killed and four wounded. Only 
five of the (Canadians were killed. The chief loss on the French 

36 



side was borne by the Indians, to wliom the victory was due. 
Twenty-seven of the Canadian Indians were Ivilled. 

Braddocli, borne along by his retreating soldiers, was still 
giving commands to his ofTicers and hoping yet to make a stand 
against the French. Washington, by the order of Braddock, rode 
on to Dunbar's camp, asking for wagons, provisions and horses. 

The fugitives traveled all night, and by morning some sem- 
blance of order was restored. And now Braddock, unable to ride, 
was carried on a litter. Twenty-four hours later the deserted farm 
of Christopher Gist was reached. Here the army was met by 
wagons, carrying provisions and a detachment of soldiers sent by 
Dunbar, whose camp was six miles distant. 

When Dunbar in the rear, received news of the defeat of Brad- 
dock, many of his soldiers and teamsters took flight, and wagons 
and supplies were destroyed. More than 100 wagons were burned. 
Powder shells were thrown into the brook, and the whole com- 
mand made an ignominious retreat to Fort Cmuberland, 60 miles 
east. It is not quite certain whether the retreat was sounded by 
Dunbar or by someone else, but it is certain that it excited in the 
minds of the colonists the utmost indignation. 

Braddock's strength was ebbing and he died at eight o'clock 
Sunday, July 13th. He was buried in the road. Washington read 
over his dead body the burial service from the Book of Common 
Prayer. Men, horses, and wagons passed over his grave so that 
it might not be discovered by the Indians. 

The bad news of Braddock's utter defeat and rout quickly 
reached Philadelphia and the hopeful and confident Governor Din- 
widdle at Williamsburg. Washington afterwards wrote: "Our poor 
Virginians behaved like men, and died like soldiers; for I believe 
that out of three companies that were there that day, scarce thirty 
were left alive. Captain Peroney and all his otiicers down to a 
corporal were killed. Captain Poison's company shared almost as 
hard a fate, for only one of them escaped. In short, the dastardly 
behavior of the English soldiers exposed all those who were in- 
clined to do their duty to almost certain death. It is imagined (I 
believe with great justice, too) that two-thirds of both killed and 
wounded received their shots from our own cowardly dogs of 
soldiers, who gathered themselves into a body, contrary to orders, 
ten or twelve deep, would then level fire and shoot down the men 
before them." 

Dinwiddle appealed to Dunbar to defend the frontier, but in 
vain. He left Fort Cumberland and marched to Philadelphia. His 
conduct, in leaving the frontier unguarded, seemed monstrous to 
Dinwiddie. 

With the defeat of Braddock and the ignominious retreat of 
Dunbar, the whole frontier was left unguarded. The French claim 
to the Mississippi valley was undisputed. White settlers on the 
frontier were subjected to many outrages from the savages. 

37 



V. 

WASHINGTON WITH THE FORBES EXPEDITION; 
HIS FOURTH JOURNEY 

With the (lawn of the year 1758 things looked very much 
brigliter for the EngHsh cause. That great constructive statesman, 
Pitt, was now at the head of the government. Three expeditions 
phmned by him against the French were well organized and well 
planned and obtained provincial support. Louisburg had fallen 
before Amherst's army; Ticonderoga had narrowly escaped capture 
through the failure of Abercrombie. 

Gen. John Forbes, a Scotchman and veteran soldier, was sent 
out against Fort Duquesne. The western frontier had, since Brad- 
dock's defeat, been ravished by the Indians, and now the colonies 
were much more ready to support and co-operate with the British 
army for the capture of Fort Duquesne. By order of Pitt, the pro- 
vincial officers took equal rank with those of the British army, 
according to grade. This itself did away with a great source of 
irritation and confusion which was felt in the previous campaign. 

Forbes recognized well the great advantage of pacifying the 
Indians, and this he proceeded to do by sending out in advance 
of the army one Frederick Post, a Moravian missionary, who spoke 
several Indian dialects and who had married an Indian woman. 
He stood high in the estimation of the Indians. This dangerous 
mission, which meant death should he be captured by the French, 
was undertaken by this simple, devout Christian, who believed he 
was undertaking the work of God. Post's mission was most suc- 
cessful, for he did much to pacify the Indians. The Delaw^ares and 
the Shawnees were particularly disaffected because of the attack 
on Kittanning, which had been made by Col. Armstrong in 1756, 
during which a number of Indians had been killed. 

Forbes' army began its march early in the year. Col. Boquet, 
a brilliant Swiss ofTicer, being second in conmiand. Among the 
other officers were Col. Armstrong, commanding the provincials 
from Pennsylvania, and Washington in command of the Virginia, 
Maryland, and North (Carolina troops, which had been assembled 
at Winchester. Raystown (now Bedford) was i-eached early in 
June and the erection of a fort, which was called after the Duke of 
Bedford, was begun. And now disputes arose as to which route 
should be traveled from Raystown to Fort Duquesne. Washington 
strongly advocated the route followed by Braddock, but Forbes, 
swayed by B()(iuet and Armstrong, favored a new route through 
Pennsylvania. Finally this route was decided upon, Forbes and 

38 



Boquet believing it furnished a shorter path to Fort Duquesne and 
could be subsequently used to advantage by the settlers; and 1,700 
of Boquet's men were set to work in cutting down trees and under- 
brush to construct this new road through the mountains. 

Forbes, delayed in Philadelphia and Carlisle by illness, finally 
joined the troops at Raystown on September 9th. His forces now 
included about (5,000 men, and he marched forward with extreme 
caution. 

While on the march he was startled by the news that Colonel 
Grant, who had started from Raystown by permission of Boquet, 
had suffered a defeat within a mile of Fort Duquesne while recon- 
noitering. The English lost 273 men in this engagement and Grant 
himself, the leader, was captured. The French loss was insignifi- 
cant. The French, emboldened by this victory, advanced and at- 
tacked Boquet at Raystown, October 12th, with a force of 1,200. 
They were repulsed with considerable loss. 

Forbes' army finally left Raystown and reached the Loyal- 
hanna Creek November 1st. Though ill and suffering tortures of 
disease, Forbes, carried on a litter, went with the army. The 
Indians called him the "Iron Head." A council of war was held. 
On account of the latenss of the season, some held the attack 
should be postponed until spring. But it was learned from three 
French prisoners, who had been captured, that the force at Fort 
Duquesne had recently been quietly reduced by the departure of 
troops for other French forts, and it was decided to march forward 
at once. Washington was sent in advance of the main army to 
open the road. A few days later Col. Armstrong pushed forward 
with a large force to assist Washington, and on the 17th Forbes 
followed with 4,300 men. Tents and heavy baggage were left 
behind. 

On November 23rd, waiting for news from the Indians who 
had been sent forward to reconoitre. General Forbes received a 
report that a thick cloud of smoke was seen rising over the fort 
and extending over the Allegheny River bottom. At midnight the 
sentinels were startled by a heavy explosion in the distance, and an 
hour later the Indian scouts arrived and brought the news that the 
French had abandoned the fort, to which they set fire; and the 
explosion heard was due to the ignition of the magazine. 

The next morning the army moved forward and occupied the 
site of the smoking fort, which, in honor of the great Prime Min- 
ister of Great Britain, who had planned the expedition, was called 
Fort Pitt. A temporary fort was erected at once, which was gar- 
risoned by 200 men under Col. Hugh Mercer, and Forbes' army 
marched back to the east of the mountains. 

The story of how Fort Pitt was held and rebuilt in a substan- 
tial way the following year by Gen. Stanwix, and its successive 
fortunes, need not now detain us. 

39 



VI. 

WASHINGTON'S INTEREST IN COMMERCE AND 
REAL ESTATE; 

HIS FIFTH AND SIXTH JOURNEYS 

In 1770 Washington, accompanied by Dr. Craik and Wm. Craw- 
ford, and for part of the way by Col. Croghan, made a visit to 
Western Pennsylvania, reaching Fort Pitt on October 17th, for the 
purpose of viewing and locating lands on the Ohio for himself 
and associates, which land had been given under grant of Governor 
Dinwiddle in 1754, to encourage enlistment of a sufficient force of 
soldiers to build and hold a fort at the forks of the Ohio. By con- 
sent of His Majesty's council, the governor had promised as pay 
2,000 acres of land on the east side of the Ohio to the volunteers 
of this expedition. This grant pretty nearly failed because of lack 
of legislation to allot these various portions to those to whom it 
belonged. And it is almost solely due to Washington that these 
lands were properly located and portioned to those who had rightly 
earned them. The expedition which he made in 1770 was entirely 
at his own expense. Washington's knowledge of the Ohio country 
and its potential possibilities are well shown by a series of letters 
exchanged (17G7-1781) between Col. Wm. Crawford and himself. 
Crawford was a native of Virginia and one of Washington's boy- 
hood friends who, at the time of this correspondence, was living at 
Stew^art's Crossing in what is now Fayette county. The following 
extracts from Washington's diary of his trip of 1770 speaks for 
themselves: 

"October 17th. — Dr. Craik and myself, with Captain Crawford 
and others, arrived at Fort Pitt, distant from Crossing forty-three 
and a half measured miles. In riding this distance we passed over a 
great deal of exceedingly fine land, chiefly white oak, especially 
from Sewickley Creek to Turtle Creek, but the whole broken, re- 
sembling, as I think, all the land in this country do the Londoun 
lands. We lodged in what is called the town, distant about three 
hundred yards from the fort, at one Mr. Semple's, who keeps a very 
good house of public entertainment.* The houses, w-hich are built 
of logs and ranged in streets, are on the Monongahela, and suppose 
may be about twenty in number and inhabited by Indian traders. 
The fort is built on the point between the Rivers Allegheny and 
Monongahela, but not so near the pitch of it as Fort Duquesne 
stood. It is five-sided and regular, two of which near the land are 
of brick, the other stockade. A moat encompasses it. The garrison 
consists of two companies of Royal Irish, commanded by Captain 
Edmondson. 



At the corner of Water and Ferry (Craig's History of Pittsburgh). 

40 



"18th. — Dined in the fort with Col. Croghan and the officers of 
the garrison. Supped there also, meeting with great civility from 
the gentlemen, and engaged to dine with Col. Croghan the next day 
at his seat, about four miles up the Allegheny." 

On the 19th, Washington received a message from Col. Croghan 
that the White Mingo and other chiefs of the six nations wished 
to speak to him. He went to meet them and received a string of 
wampum and a speech, saying, that as he was a person some of 
them remembered and most of them had heard of, they wished to 
welcome him and desired that the people of Virginia should con- 
sider them as friends and brothers. They feared that they were 
not looked upon in this way, as they did not trade with them 
much, etc. 

Washington replied he was sure the people of Virginia desired 
their friendship, but they did not trade much like the people of 
Pennsylvania. The diary continues: "After dining at Col. Cro- 
ghan's we returned to Pittsburgh, Col. Croghan with us, who 
intended to accompany us part of the way down the river, having 
engaged an Indian, called the Peasant, and one Jos. Nicholson, an 
interpreter, to attend us the whole voyage, also a young Indian 
warrior. 

"November 22nd. — Stayed in Pittsburgh all day. Invited the 
officers and some other gentlemen to dinner with me at Semple's. 
Among them was one Dr. Connolly, a nephew of Col. Croghan, a 
very sensible, intelligent man, who had traveled over a good deal 
of this western country, both by water and land, and who con- 
firmed Nicholson's account of good land on the Shawnee River, 
up which he had been near four hundred miles." 

Washington again, in 1784, came to Western Pennsylvania for 
the purpose of looking into and locating various lands which had 
been granted to him or in which he was interested some way for 
others. At this time his holdings were very large, amounting to 
nearly 50,000 acres, mostly in the western country, and valued at 
over $400,000. He had another object in view, also, which was to 
consider the possibility of connecting the Virginian rivers with 
branches of the Ohio so that Virginia might be enabled to success- 
fully compete with Pennsylvania and New York in the way of 
transportation. He wrote many letters at this time to Governor 
Harrison of Virginia, setting forth the great importance of binding 
the nation together by adequate means of communication between 
the east and west. 

He started on this journey September, 1784, accompanied by 
his friend and family physician, Dr. Jas. Craik. He has left a diary 
of this journey and made several maps which are still of nnich 

41 



interest.* In this diary, Washington nialces many interesting obser- 
vations as to routes of travel, value of river transportation, all of 
which show him as a statesman and a keen, far-sighted man of 
business. For instance, he says in one place "There is, in that 
state, at least 100,000 souls west of Laurel Ilill, who are groaning 
under the inconvenience of a long land transportation. They are 
wishing, indeed, looking, for the extension of inland navigation, 
and if this cannot be made easy for them to Philadelphia, at any 
rate it must be lengthy, they will seek a Mart elsewhere; and none 
is so inconvenient as that which ofTers itself through the Youghio- 
gheny or Cheat River, the certain consequence therefore of an 
attempt to restrain the extension of the navigation of these rivers 
(so consonant with the interest of these people), or to impose any 
extra duties upon the exports or imports to or from another state, 
would be a separation of the western settlers, from the old and 
more interior government, toward which there is not wanting a 
disposition at this moment in the former." 



* Albert Galletin, then residing at I-'iiendship Hill, Fayette County, met 
Washington for the first time on this trip. 



42 



VII. 

CONCLUSION 

We must now bring to a close this brief sketch of the history 
of Western Pennsylvania in which Washington played a part. It 
will be remembered that on his first trip in 1753, when he bore 
Governor Dinwiddle's message to the French, he risked his life 
twice, once when he was shot at by an Indian and once when he 
fell from the raft in crossing the Allegheny. The next year his life 
was certainly endangered in the encounter with Jumonville; and 
in 1755 in the Braddock fight it is not too much to say that he 
risked his life many times. And while it does not appear that there 
was any imminent risk of his life in any of his three subsequent 
visits to Pennsylvania, yet even in these trips he encountered a 
certain measurable degree of danger. 

His campaign in Pennsylvania fitted him for the career of 
soldier, which he subsequently followed. Here he learned the 
vastness of our country and saw far into the future its tremendous 
possibilities. The importance of the situation of the land at the 
point between the Allegheny and the Monongahela Rivers was at 
once apparent to him. 

Surely there is no man who is so intimately connected with 
the history of Western Pennsylvania or who has risked and done 
so much for it as Washington. Had he never subsequently advanced 
to the great position of father of his country, he would be deserving 
of a lasting place in our history, worthy of our admiration and 
gratitude and a monument to his memory. 

Washington's first visits to Western Pennsylvania were made 
when he was a young man of 21 to 26 years of age. It is this period 
of his life which more especially binds him to the history of 
Western Pennsylvania. And to my mind the most interesting and 
picturesque of all his visits was his first one when he was a youth 
of 21. I could wish this youth of 21 were reproduced in bronze, 
either alone or in company of Christopher Gist, and placed at some 
conspicuous point of our city, that the story of W^ashington, as I 
have once more attempted to bring before you, might be learned 
by our boys and girls and by the stranger within our gates. 

I may remark that a statue in bronze of the great Franklin has 
been erected on the campus of the University of Pennsylvania, 
representing him as a run-away youth of 17, as he appeared when 
he entered Philadelphia. I commend to the careful and thoughtful 
consideration of the members of this Society the suggestion that 
we take in hand the matter of erecting a similar statue of George 
Washington, representing him as he was as a youth of 21 years of 
age, when he acted as Governor Dinwiddle's messenger. 

43 



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